Having been made aware his role in north London would only be a bit-part one, the former Manchester United player moved to Serie A where he has enjoyed a fruitful campaign. Six goals and three assists in 13 league outings has seen his stock once more, and while there was uncertainty around his Arsenal future, Mkhitaryan's latest comments have firmly closed the door on a Gunners return.

Corriere dello Sport have revealed the 31-year-old provided the following statement to his parent club: “My time in London is over, I hope you manage to find an agreement with Rome because my desire is to stay.”

Those comments followed on from statements made by Roma boss Paulo Fonseca last week.

“I want him to stay and he also wants to stay, however, it should be clear that everything is now on hiatus, and we’ll have to talk to Arsenal," he said. "I want to continue working with him because he’s a great player and a great man.”

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The current football hiatus caused by the coronavirus outbreak has resulted in substantial financial losses for clubs across the globe, but the Italian report claims that despite this, Fonseca and Roma are still very keen to tie Mkhitaryan down permanently, alongside fellow loanee Chris Smalling.

Known football agent Mino Raiola represents Mkhitaryan and is mediating the conversations between both clubs, which have concluded that Arsenal would seek €10m (£9m) for one half of the infamous Alexis Sanchez swap deal.

This is a number that Roma are supposedly happy to pay, despite interest in his services from Russia.